We tend to think of breastfeeding as a wonderful thing a mom can do for her kids, and by and large, it is. But for a mom from Maryland, breastfeeding her baby turned to tragedy over the weekend. Cops say Yadina Indira Morales was both breastfeeding and "highly intoxicated." Together the two proved to be dangerous for her 2-month-old daughter, who was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Most respectable pediatricians will tell a breastfeeding mom to pump and dump if she's going to drink. Baby should either get formula or some breast milk expressed before the alcohol was consumed.
However, it doesn't seem like the alcohol in mom's milk was the worst part here; it was mom's drunken state. Cops indicate Morales passed out while breastfeeding and that the baby was found underneath her, unresponsive.
She's since been charged with manslaughter, second-degree child abuse, reckless endangerment, and other lesser charges.
Drinking when you're a mom is not a crime. But you do have to remember that if you're going to drink to the point where you can't function, you need to make sure someone else is on hand to care for your baby for as long as you're impaired. That may even mean giving them the aforementioned formula or bottle of expressed breast milk.
Frankly, any time you don't feel like you should be holding your baby — whether it's because you're impaired or you have a major migraine — go easy on yourself and get some help! Breastfeeding is important, but the safety of the baby is more so!
What do you do when you're going to drink and you're still breastfeeding?
Image via police handout
